Englishman Olly Whiteley stormed into the lead at The Princess by Schüco with a three under par 69 in the second round taking him to seven under.
He sits one shot ahead of Argentine Daniel Vancsik and South African Branden Grace at PGA of Sweden National in Malmö, while four players are another shot back at four under.
Whiteley only started his season a month ago – he finished second in the Telenet Trophy is his first event - and has made the cut in all three tournaments so far. The 33 year old says his fine form is testament to taking an extended break from golf over the winter.
“I’m surprised I’m the clubhouse leader,” he said. “I thought there would be some decent scores out there today. But I’m pretty pleased. It’s very tricky out there with the wind, but I played steadily. I’m hitting it well.
“The season has been good so far. I had second place in Belgium which was my first tournament back after a long time off. I took about seven months off and not so much rediscovered my love for golf, but I needed a break from it. It was getting very intense and I needed to start enjoying it a bit more. I’ve come out with a more relaxed attitude.
“During that seven months I did a bit of practice, learned how to putt, ate a lot, trained a bit… that was it. It was great. I’ve got to thank the people at Sheffield Hallam University for all they did for me during that time. I had a hand injury and they helped me a lot with my rehabilitation and training.
“It has renewed my enthusiasm for golf. I’m turning up to tournaments trying to enjoy them, and I’m not going to play as many. If you spend too much time around golf tournaments you can go a bit cuckoo. My aim is to keep a fresher outlook on it.”
